Leo Lyons was born in
Mansfield, Nottinghamshire in November 1943 and became a professional musician at the age of 16. In 1962, along with band-mate
Alvin Lee, his band
The Jaybirds performed at
The Star Club in Hamburg, Germany. Lyons was also hired to play in the club's house band, along with
Tony Sheridan. Simultaneously, he performed at the
Top Ten Club with featured guitarist
Albert Lee. From 1969 to 1975, the group toured consistently. Lyons estimates the band performed for more than 75,000 new fans each week. In 1975, Lyons worked in record production at
Chrysalis Records as a studio manager for the
Wessex Studios in London. Building on these experiences, Lyons built two commercial studios. As a producer, Lyons worked with a broad variety of musicians, including
UFO,
Waysted,
Motörhead,
Richard and
Linda Thompson, and many others. During the 1990s, Lyons released two albums with his band, Kick. Lyons also worked as a staff writer for Nashville publishers Hayes Street Music, moving to Nashville in 1998. In 2003, Ten Years After reformed, and Lyons toured with the group for the next decade. In 2010, with TYA guitarist/singer
Joe Gooch, he formed Hundred Seventy Split. At the end of 2013, Lyons and Gooch resigned from Ten Years After. Lyons continued releasing albums as part of Hundred Seventy Split. The group is actively touring, and they perform TYA songs along with original material. As of 2019, Lyons resides in
Cardiff, Wales. ==References==